Never off duty
by Sylvie Orp
Summary: Agents find the job spoils their love lives


"That must be a treat for your girlfriend!"

Doyle shrugged, leaning casually against the bookcase. "Yeah, and my boyfriend's non-too pleased either."

Shirley looked at him steadily. Doyle bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself grinning as he watched a myriad of emotions cross Shirley's face. It settled on shock as her eyes widened.

"You're not …"

There, she couldn't even say the word. Doyle allowed the start of a grin to peep out. Shirley slowly realised that she'd been had. A grin of her own seeped out and spread up to her eyes.

"You b…" she began, before Doyle wagged an admonishing finger in her direction.

"Naughty, naughty. To make up for it, you can take me out to dinner."

"Oh, can I?" Shirley hardly knew Doyle. He'd come bursting into her life only a few weeks ago. They'd already been interrupted once on a date by an urgent phone call.

Doyle swooped up her coat. "Yeah. There's a nice Indian round the corner."

"I'm not going out with him; he's already engaged!"

Doyle laughed at her joke and held out the coat. As she turned to shrug into it, Doyle snatched it away with an 'Olé'. She joined in the fun as they paso dobléd around the living room. He eventually managed to get in a quick kiss before allowing her to don the coat. He felt that there was a possibility of more of the same if he played his cards right.

The meal was a great success. Doyle was greeted as an old friend by the proprietor. (He and his staff remembered well that Doyle had saved the family, many years past, from a protection racket, though Doyle had typically played down his part in it all.) Shirley was impressed by Ray's regard with the management; Doyle was just embarrassed by their effusiveness. It was difficult to woo a girl with waiters hovering around like an anxious gang of footmen. But they got through it and Doyle even managed to pay for the meal against the protestations of the owner. From there it was a moonlit walk to a nearby club where he was less well known. They left in the early hours, hand in hand, relaxed and happy. As they approached her flat, he felt her tense.

"Er, Ray, can we just say 'goodbye' here …" her shaky voice trailed off. She was blushing down to the roots of her hair.

Doyle grinned at her embarrassment. "I promise to be a true gent." He bowed and kissed her hand. Their eyes met and held.

"'True gent', that'd be a first!"

The pair jumped a foot in the air. Doyle swore. "How long have you been creeping round, you bastard?!" Doyle asked his partner angrily as Bodie emerged from the shadows.

"I got up to the bit about being a gentleman, then I had to cross the road to be sick!"

Doyle was very tempted to give vent to his feelings, but his eyes slid over towards a frightened girlfriend. He swallowed his anger and gritted his teeth.

"I'm sorry, Shirley, but this is my partner, Bodie."

"Oh," she said, shocked, "You did say that your boyfriend … I, I thought you were joking."

"Christ, no. I meant business partner, colleague, call him what you will - and I'll help you out if you want!" Doyle turned an angry face again at Bodie.

Bodie shrugged nonchalantly. Any abuse rolled off him. He was enjoying himself too much.

"I'm the tall handsome one who gets this creature's arse out of the fire when things get too hot." Bodie held out a manicured hand. Shirley reluctantly took it. This bloke was too suave for her liking.

"Well, now that we've introduced ourselves, what the hell do you want?" though Doyle had a very shrewd idea.

"The old man woke me in the wee hours to find you. We're on."

"I'm off …"

"We're never off duty," they chorused together. Bodie usually knew how to get back onto Doyle's good side.

"Sorry, Shirley, but I've got to go. I'm on the duty roster for this evening. I thought it was all going too well."

Shirley shrugged philosophically, wondering what kind of civil servant gets themselves on an all night duty roster - complete with 'business partner'.

"See you soon?"

"Yeah, of course, Shirley. I'll give you a ring tomorrow and we'll arrange something …"

"We could form a committee," Bodie cut in, grinning broadly.

"Sod off," Ray snarled, pushing his partner away.

Doyle managed a quick kiss before Shirley turned towards her door. The men watched her get in safely and put the light on. Doyle waved at her from the window.

"Not bad, Doyle, but your chat up lines need a bit of work."


End file.
